


Double Dating

by orphan_account



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Everyone is children, Gen, Its really only a pairing if you squint, Psychic Abilities, Swingset, nighttime shenanigans, park, playground
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 12:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4521324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Double dating (slang): When two or more swings move in sync. Kiku just happens to be better at this than most, and Gilbert couldn't be more pleased. Human!Child!AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Double Dating

The park was, like, a million times better at night. For one, Gilbert didn’t have to put on any of that stupid smelly sun lotion, ‘cause it was dark out. For another, the park was always empty, so he had the whole thing to himself.

That was important, because Gilbert had to go the the little local park at night. That park was just one house over, and lit up by a bunch of streetlamps. Not like the school park ten minutes away, which was huge and had seven slides and a zipline (even if it usually got stuck halfway through) and a proper little climbing wall. Gilbert rather thought that eight was old enough to walk to the big park, but Vati said no and what Vati said went, so he was stuck at the little park.

The little park only had two slides, and one of them was a baby slide so it probably didn’t even count. The two rockers were both sort of broken-- the car only went side to side, and the panda didn’t really rock at all. But the little playground did still have swings, which was what really mattered. Swings always worked-- they didn’t break or wear out, and the ones made for babies could still be used in creatively dangerous ways.

Swings were on Gilbert’s mind when he raced out of the house to the little playground. His sneakers (lightup, so his vati could spot him he supposed) slapped against the sidewalk has he sprinted to the park. He had been in the house all Sunday finishing his homework, which was unfair ‘cause he totally would have finished it after dinner but Vati never bought that, so whatever.

He screeched to a stop at the park, ducking past the monkey bars to the swings. But there, he stopped.

There was someone else at the park. That had never happened before. He stared, unsure of how to approach the boy on the swingset. He’d just wait until the other boy noticed him. But as he watched, something struck him. 

This kid was really, really good at swingsets! He seemed to go impossibly high-- At some points, Gilbert could have swore that the other boy was going to do a full loop. After a few minutes of awestruck watching, Gilbert decided to actually get the kid’s attention. After all, the kid hadn’t seen him yet, and Gilbert really wanted to know how the heck the kid could swing that high. He didn’t seem to be pumping his legs differently, like the older kids did-- of course, it was hard to tell, since the guy was swinging and all. 

“Hey! Hey, kid!” Was he even a kid? Maybe he was a short big kid. What that a thing? Oh well. It would explain why he was at the park at night. Though, if Gilbert was big, he’d go the the school yard park. 

The other boy started a bit-- he really hadn’t noticed Gilbert, had he? Rude. He stopped the swing, almost instantly-- he barely dragged his feet on the ground. Actually, he didn’t drag his feet in the dark, mulchy ruts below the swing-- he was too short to touch! This kid and his swinging skills needed to be investigated.  
“How’re you going that high? How’d you stop that fast? What are you doing here, anyways?” The other boy-- he certainly wasn’t older than Gilbert, so that ruled out his “big kid” theory-- Just stared at Gilbert, dumbfounded. 

Gilbert crossed his arms and pursed his lips, tapping his foot as he looked expectantly at the other kid. “Erm…” The kid began, before trailing off. “...Who are you?”

“I’m Gilbert. Who are you?” The albino replied. He supposed that it was a fair question for both of them to ask-- even if the other had started the whole thing by ignoring him. Or not seeing him. Whatever.

The other stared nervously at the ground. “‘M Kiku.” He mumbled. Gilbert huffed, plodding over to the swing next to Kiku and jumping into the seat. The toes of his sneakers barely dragged against the ground, made lower by years of kids dragging themselves to a stop. But not Kiku, which brought Gilbert back to the original dilemma. 

Gilbert wrapped an arm around the chain of the swing, resting his head on the fist clutching the chain. “So, how are you so good at swinging?” 

Kiku, still staring at the ground (or possibly his battered shoes, Gilbert supposed), shrugged. “Just am.” He muttered. 

Gilbert narrowed his eyes. “But, I mean…” He trailed off. “How, though? Like, what do you do?” 

The dark haired boy shrugged and whispered something to his shoes. Gilbert heaved a dramatic sigh. “Fine. what are you doing here?” 

“Swinging.” “Why are you doing it at night?” Kiku looked up, giving Gilbert what was probably meant to be a funny look. “...What are _you_ doing here at night?”

Gilbert puffed himself up proudly. This kid clearly didn’t have a real reason to be here, and must have thought the same of Gilbert. Well, Gilbert would show him! “I’m here,” He began proudly, “because I burn in the sun.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” 

Gilbert deflated, his shoulders slumping slightly. This kid was more difficult to impress than he would’ve thought. It must’ve come with the boy’s natural swingset abilities. “You didn’t answer my question,” Gilbert protested, “and I asked first. So you hafta answer.”

Kiku considered this. “‘M too good at swinging.” The albino crumpled his forehead as he contemplated the sincerity of this answer. Kiku didn’t seem like the type to poke fun-- not with the way he had gone back to scrutinizing the mulch beneath them. “And…” Gilbert began, carefully choosing his words. “That makes people… jealous?”

Kiku frowned now-- not that he had really been smiling before. “My brother says that people will think I’m weird if they see it.”

Gilbert shrugged purposefully. “I don’t think you’re weird, really.” He lied. “You’re just good at swinging.” Really, Kiku was pretty weird. But sometimes people called Gilbert weird too, and that made him feel sad, and he didn’t want to make Kiku feel sad.

Kiku stopped frowning, but he still didn’t look up. The two sat in silence, Gilbert contemplating Kiku and Kiku contemplating the ground. 

“Y’know how when people push you on the swing, you go higher?” Gilbert started at the sound of Kiku’s voice. “Uhh, yeah?” His vati pushed him on the swing when he was little, and he had gone higher then. Or maybe it felt higher because he was little, like how the baby slide felt longer when he was small. That didn’t matter, he guessed. 

“I push myself. That’s how I go high.” “Really?” Kiku nodded solemnly, as if he was revealing a great secret of life. Maybe he was. Gilbert hesitated. “That sounds cool. Wish I could do that.” Kiku looked up to deliver another strange look, but Gilbert didn’t mind. He was beginning to suspect that Kiku’s piercing looks were just part of his face.

“Do…” Kiku began, a small amount of daring beginning to creep into his voice, “Do you want me to push you?” Gilbert grinned. “Yeah, yeah!” Kiku bit his lip. “Okay. Kick your legs like you were gonna swing, and I’ll push.”

Gilbert excitedly pumped his legs, leaning to get some good speed going. Within a few seconds, he felt a distinct _push_ on his back, and the swing began to really speed up. “Woah!” He yelled delightedly into the night air. The swing flew back, and there was another push. 

Gilbert laughed breathlessly even as he rose higher into the air. “Alright, now do the stop!” He shouted back. He could have swung like that for hours, but he really wanted to see how that insta-stop Kiku had performed earlier worked.

And just like that, the push returned, now against him and lowering him down, just like Vati had done when he was little. His toes dragged back against the mulch, Gilbert still giggling breathlessly. “That was awesome! You do that all the time?!” 

Kiku had something akin to a smile on his face as he nodded. “Mmhmm. Whenever I come here.” Gilbert nodded. “I would too.” It almost looked like Kiku flushed, but it was hard to tell in the dim lamplight. Just like that, inspiration struck.

“Hey, can you push us both at the same time? We could double-date!” Kiku tilted his head, his brow furrowed. “Well… I’ve never tried…” Gilbert grinned. “So let’s try!”

Kiku visibly hesitated, his smile faded into a line. “We don’t have to go super high or anything. We’ll just do it together!” Gilbert reassured the boy. He wasn’t sure how Kiku could push like that, or why he could do it, but he wasn’t sure he cared either way. Kiku sighed a little bit. “I… I’ll try.”

Gilbert nodded confidently. “On the count of three.” Kiku bit his lip again, be he did nod, so he must have trusted Gilbert to some extent. Gilbert was unsure about why Kiku would trust him, of all people, but it make some small part of the albino curl in warmth all the same. 

“One… Two… Three!” 

In unison, the boys pumped their legs and once again, Gilbert felt a _push_. It wasn’t quite as firm as before-- it felt a little smaller, a little weaker-- but as one, the swings began to pick up speed, rising and falling together. 

Gilbert laughed again, wildly and freely into the air rushing by him. He could have sworn that past the wind howling past his ears, he heard Kiku laugh too.

It could have been minutes or it could have been hours, but finally Gilbert heard something besides their laughter and the air. 

“Gilbert! It’s time to come in!” Already? It couldn’t have been that long-- But he glanced over at Kiku, and the _push_ stopped, replaced again by the firm, slowing pressure on Gilbert’s (and Kiku’s, evidently) back. The swings slowed to a stop, and Gilbert could now hear his vati’s heavy footsteps on the concrete. 

“It’s eight fifteen. You need to get ready for bed.” His father called. Gilbert slumped and stuck out his lower lip. “Awww, Vati… five more minutes?” Gilbert could see the tall silhouette through the tangle of the play structure. “Gilbert.” That voice held a stern sort of authority, and Gilbert was helpless to resist. He slid dejectedly off the swing, the very picture of reluctant obedience. 

He glanced to the side, where Kiku looked between the two figures. His eyes were unreadable in the dark, but Gilbert got a distinct sense of sadness from the still seated boy. “Hang on one sec, Vati!” He shouted back, before whirling around to face Kiku. 

He grabbed the boy’s hand. “I’ll see you next weekend, right?” Kiku started, once again apparently dumbfounded. “We’ll do it Saturday,” Gilbert declared, heedless of Kiku’s silence, “‘Cause my bedtime’s nine on Saturdays.” Kiku nodded, gulping. Gilbert released his hold, hands triumphantly on his hips. “Great! See you then!” 

“...Bye.” Kiku murmured. Gilbert grinned theatrically. “Bye! See ya Saturday!”  
With that, Gilbert turned and ran back to his vati, his shoes causing the piping of the playground to cast long, intricate shadows. His vati smiled softly down at him, any prior irritation apparently fading. “Who was your friend back there?” 

Gilbert absentmindly grabbed onto his father’s hand. “His name is Kiku. He’s good at swinging, so we swung together and stuff.” Vati hummed. “Is that so? You’ll have to tell me all about it.” Gilbert nodded. He wouldn’t tell him all about it-- it wasn’t a lie if Vati never asked the question, after all. At least, Gilbert was pretty sure that was how it worked. “Yeah. All about it…”

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to get back into the swing of writing not smut, so I made a thing. I guess it could be a pairing if you squint, or maybe a future romance, but for right now I think they're probably just friends.
> 
> Gilbert strikes me as the sassiest kid, though I suspect that he has a lot of empathy. I suppose that the implication here is that Kiku has some manner of telekinesis, though you could read in some telepathy if you wanted.


End file.
